Today, most beverages or liquids for consumer use are contained in a bottle, can or carton. These containers vary in size and shape.
In order to pour the liquid from its container, one must grasp the bottle, can or carton and tilt it. It is somewhat difficult to tilt these containers because they do not have a handle for the user to grasp.
An even greater difficulty arises when the container is too heavy or too large. Without a handle, the user is usually required to use two hands to tilt the bottle or carton. This can become awkward as the user is unable to simultaneously hold another object, such as the cup into which the user is pouring the liquid. If the user is unable to maintain a firm grasp on the container, the user will pour the liquid inaccurately and uncontrollably, causing the liquid to spill. Furthermore, if the user is unable to hold the cup, it may topple as the liquid is being poured into it.
A number of bottle holders are already in existence. U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,940 describes a strap member that serves as a handle. However, this strap is thin and highly flexible. The lack of rigidity compromises the amount of control that the user has over the container as it is tilted. Furthermore, the instability of the strap may cause the base member to slip off of the bottom of the bottle as it is tilted, causing spillage.
Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,876, discloses a bottle holder with two gripping members oriented in opposite directions. In order to remove the bottle, the user must first remove one gripping member and then remove the other. This process may prove to be awkward. Furthermore, while one gripping member is being removed, the other attached gripping member must sustain a substantial amount of torque. If the user is not careful, this process may cause the gripping member to break off.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,197 discloses a bottle holder having an upper gripping member that fits over the bottle flange. This gripping member, however, may be applied only after removing the cap. This may lead to spillage while the user is attempting to fit the gripping member over the bottle mouth and over the flange.
None of the aforementioned patents are capable of being used with a carton container. Furthermore, none of the above patents disclose a handle having a finger gripping configuration for providing a firm grasp by the user.
Therefore, a need existed for a portable and durable device for holding either a round bottle container or a carton container comprising a substantially rigid handle having a finger gripping configuration for providing a firm grasp by the user and identically oriented container gripping members that may be rapidly attached and removed while the container remains either open or closed.